The designer is a native of Mississippi, where his love of sewing and design was nurtured by his grandmother, a master quilter. “I always dreamed of moving to New York to be a fashion designer,” he says. “I didn’t know how I’d get there, or when, but I had a subway map pinned to my wall. Before I was 13, I knew the city by heart.” In 1997 Hollis moved to NYC and began his career in the fashion industry by attending Fashion Institute of Technology. He holds a degree in Fashion Design from New York’s FIT. Wherever his career led, Hollis never lost sight of his goal to head his own business. In fact, he launched his own eveningwear line when he was just two years out of college. Unfortunately, time wasn’t on his side then: “I opened the showroom on September 10, 2001,” he says. “Like just…